Almost a hundred people, including children, were rescued after being trapped by a swollen river in two of the provinces in the extreme east of Cuba after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, local authorities reported this Thursday.
The president of the Provincial Defense Council in Granma, Yudelkis Ortiz, detailed on Facebook that They helped 56 people in the community of Los Haticos de Cauto Cristo in the aforementioned province.
Among the rescued people are six children and nine women, according to information from the local authority.
Meanwhile, forces of the Cuban Army and the Ministry of the Interior They rescued 38 people who were trapped by the flooding of the river in the municipality of Cacocum in the province of Holguínalso in the east of the country, according to state media in that region.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba early Wednesday morning as a category 3 (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale and crossed its eastern end for about seven hours with strong winds, heavy rains and a severe storm surge.
Melissa and the intense rains in eastern Cuba
According to the Institute of Meteorology, In just 15 hours Melissa left up to 400 millimeters of water (or liters per square meter) in six locationsbetween 200 and 300 millimeters in twelve locations and more than 100 millimeters in 72 locations.
Mainly, due to the forecast of intense rains, some 735 thousand people were evacuated or protected in the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas and Camagüey.
They represent more than 7.5% of the national population and almost 18% of the inhabitants of those provinces.
The Cuban Government has not presented a damage assessment so far, but above all the floods caused severe damage to homes, basic infrastructure and agriculture.
For now, no fatalities have been reported.
They rescue almost forty people trapped by the waters in Holguín
